My name is Andrea Estrada and I am studying on the MA in Accessibility and Filmmaking at the University of Roehampton. I am currently working on my dissertation, which analyses and compares the current practice of subtitles for deaf and hard of hearing people (SDH) on UK TV and online platforms.According to the UK Digital Market Overview carried out by comScore (May 2014), PC remains the dominant access device. Hence the importance of carrying out a research about the quality of the subtitles (for deaf and hard of hearing viewers) that the main online platforms offer. Given that different layouts are used on different video on demand platforms, and following the aims of the DTV4ALL Project[1], I would like to know your opinion about the subtitles used on the iPlayer, Catch up and On Demand. The four main terrestrial broadcasters that have been selected are BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.

The questionnaire is anonymous and has 14 questions. It should take about 15 minutes. Please only complete the survey if you live in the UK, have done very recently, or spend large amounts of time over here.

Thank you very much for your time and help.

[1] A project conducted to find out the opinion and preferences of the audience regarding specific SDH parameters.

Gender:

Female

Male

Age:

Are you...?

Deaf

Hard of Hearing

Hearing

Other

If your answer was 'deaf' or 'hard of hearing' could you please identify your level of deafness?

mild

moderate

severe

profound

If you would like to, you can also specify the kind of hearing loss according to the shape they form on an audiogram (Flat Loss, Ski-Slope Loss, Reverse-Slope Loss, Cookie-Bite Loss, Reverse Cookie-Bite Loss).

If your answer was "other", could you please specify?

What do you use subtitles for?

They help me to understand

They are my only way to have access to the dialogue

I use them for language learning

Other

What do you use subtitles for?

They help me to understand

They are my only way to have access to the dialogue

I use them for language learning

Other (specify)

How often do you watch series/programs on the online platforms (iPlayer, On Demand and Catch Up)?

Hardly ever

Often

Very Often

N/A

What do you think of the pre-recorded subtitles on the online platforms?

Satisfactory

Somewhat Satisfactory

Somewhat Unsatisfactory

Unsatisfactory

I don’t know

N/A

Additional Comments

Do you find the layout (namely font, size and position) shown below from the BBC iPlayer easy to read?

Yes

No

N/A

Would you change/add/remove anything? If so, what would you change?

Do you find the layout (namely font, size and position) shown below from the ITV Player easy to read?

Yes

No

N/A

Would you change/add/remove anything? If so, what would you change?

Do you find the layout (namely font, size and position) shown below from the Channel 5 On Demand easy to read?

Yes

No

N/A

Would you change/add/remove anything? If so, what would you change?

Do you find the layout (namely font, size and position) shown below from the Channel 4 Catch Up easy to read?

Yes

No

N/A

Would you change/add/remove anything? If so, what would you change?

Compared to the other online platforms (BBC iPlayer, ITV Player and Channel 5 On Demand), as the last two screenshots show, Channel 4 Catch Up does not use colours or tags for speaker identification. Instead the white colour is used for each character. Identifying the speaker and following the plot is:

Easy

About Right

Difficult

Very Difficult

N/A

Additional Comments

For the box of the subtitles, do you prefer…

Black box, as on TV (Image 1)

Translucent/Transparent box, as on the BBC iPlayer (Image 2)

No box at all, as on the ITV Player, Channel 4 and Channel 5 (Image 3)

Additional Comments

Compared to TV, where do you prefer sound-related labels to be shown?

TV, bottom to the left (Image 1)

Internet, bottom centred (Image 2)

Additional Comments

During the research process across the online platforms, it was found that in many occasions the mood of the character is conveyed following the format of the sound effect label. Regarding the information about the mood of the speakers, how do you prefer that to be shown?

Centred, capital letters and between brackets. The same pattern that the ITV Player follows for sound effect labels (Image 1)

Centred and capital letters. The same pattern that the BBC Player follows for sound effect labels (Image 2)

Use of emoticons followed by the utterance [i.e. :-) :-( ] (Image 3)

By using a different pattern from sound effect labels: Between round brackets with the first letter capitalised

I do not want indication of mood at all. Facial expressions are enough

N/A

Other (specify)

Do you like the 3-line subtitles used in contexts such as the ones shown below?

Yes

No

I don’t mind

N/A

Additional Comments

According to the previous screenshots, which format (namely font, size, identification and position) used on the online platforms do you prefer?

BBC iPlayer

ITV Player

Channel 4 Catch Up

Channel 5 On Demand

N/A

Additional Comments

And which one would be your second preferred choice?

Would you like to add any other comment regarding the current practice of SDH on the online platforms?

For any query, doubt or additional information, please, e-mail me to: andreaestradafu@gmail.comThank you very much for your cooperation. Share it with your family and friends!